The present invention is directed generally to electrical connector assemblies and, more particularly, to improved electrical connector assemblies which may be, for example, advantageously applied to the selective interconnection of a plurality of remote signal stations to a central signal processing system wherein the remote signal stations have a predetermined signal characteristic.
During the installation and interconnection of remote signal stations such as, for example, modems and data sets to central signal processing systems, such as a telephone central office, it is often observed that the transmitted signal levels of the remote stations and the central systems are so high that overloading of remote station and central system receivers will result unless affirmative measures are taken to attenuate the signals. This results because the remote stations and central systems are designed to have a predetermined signal characteristic in the form of high level transmitted signals to insure that the signals between remote stations and central systems that are at a maximum distance from each other will be received properly. When the remote stations and the central systems are closer in proximity to each other than the maximum distance, the resulting signal levels will be too high and overloading will result. Obviously, the degree of required attenuation is inversely related to the distance between the remote stations and the central systems.
The required attenuation is customarily introduced between the remote stations and the central systems at the time the remote stations are installed. The installer may determine the amount of attenuation required by checking the transmission line loss from the site of the remote station back to the central system. Then, when the installer interconnects the remote station to the central system, an appropriate impedance network is connected across the transmission line pair.
The impedance networks take two different forms. One variety is an impedance pad which comprises five resistors and a capacitor. The other variety is merely a single resistor. Both are used in conjunction with data sets, or modems.
The industry has adopted nine attenuation levels. As a result, there are nine different pad networks, and nine different resistor values to select from. Once the loss is measured at the remote station site, the proper one of the nine pads or resistors is selected and connected across the transmission line during the remote station installation.
While the foregoing procedure of installing a remote station appears to be a simple matter, just the opposite has been the case. The electrical connector assemblies which have come heretofore have only allowed the interconnection of one remote station to the central system. As a result, where a plurality of remote stations at a single site are to be connected to a central system, it is necessary for the installer to carry a like plurality of electrical connector assemblies. Also, such electrical connector assemblies do not provide for ease of installation. Usually, an impedance network must be secured within an enclosure with screws or other fasteners and then wired to obtain the desired interconnection. Where more than one interconnection is necessary, the foregoing process can take considerable time, is error prone, and adds to the installation costs.
Preferably, electrical connector assemblies of the type to which the present invention is directed should be capable of easy and error-free installation coupled with reliable operation. Furthermore, the assemblies must be creatively designed to provide a wide range of flexibility in the interconnecting of remote signal stations and central signal processing systems while retaining simplicity in installation and a relatively modest initial manufacturing cost.
It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide new and improved electrical connector assemblies for interconnecting a plurality of remote signal stations to central signal processing systems.
It is a more particular object of the present invention to provide electrical connector assemblies which afford simplified and flexible interconnection of remote signal stations and central signal processing systems.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an electrical connector assembly which is adapted to receive a plurality of impedance networks for interconnecting a like plurality of remote signal stations to a central signal processing system which minimizes the amount of on-site wiring by the installer in establishing the interconnections.